


In the night, the sun still glows

by captainpieceofshit (mo52ya)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-09
Updated: 2015-03-09
Packaged: 2018-03-17 03:18:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3513281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mo52ya/pseuds/captainpieceofshit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the arrival of June, summer had waltzed in and the sky was painted orange and teal. Nijimura yawned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the night, the sun still glows

_"Should I have a suit tailored for you?"_  
_"Huh?"_  
_"A suit. Formal wear. For events. I know people who could do it. We simply need to take an appointment to take your measurements."_  
_"I know that… But why exactly?"_  
_"I think you are aware of how many I have to attend every month, and we got engaged so technically, you are part of the Akashi family now."_  
_"…Why I would attend an event that requires you to wear a necktie. That sounds like a hell of a lot of trouble."_  
_"Oh, don’t worry about it. If you don’t want to wear a necktie you can always pick the bowtie. Besides, I think you would look dashing in either one."_

_Akashi’s lips curled up into a tiny grin. God, Nijimura hated when he did that._

Nijimura looked at his reflection in the standing mirror next to their bedroom door for one final check. He tugged at his necktie left and right and quickly brushed his bangs with his fingers.

—

The place was like a ball in black. Family, friends and business partners were mourning, sympathizing, shaking hands. The air was buzzing with chatter and hiccuping with sobs.

It was a stupid car accident.

On a raised wooden platform, there was the speaker’s podium. Next to it, the coffin rested on a block of white marble, heavy, imposing, peaceful. The coffin was in polished red wood, highlited with gold edges. On the side panels a dragon gracefully twisted among clouds.

Nijimura walked up to it. In a bed of white pillows and flowers, the young man’s body lied. An embroidered cream shroud had been pulled up to his chest. His eyelids were closed, delicate as white petals on snow. His expression relaxed, his skin smooth as ever. Makeup did wonders.

 _You’re probably hating how all these people are looking down at you like this huh_ , Nijimura told himself in an attempt to lighten up. Somehow, the knot in his throat got worse.

He swallowed. It felt like something was clawing at his throat, trying to escape. He brought his hand to the boy’s head. He tried to be gentle, as if the porcelain skin on his cheek would crumble like sand with a brush of the fingertips, but he was shaking. The boy’s hands were resting slightly above his stomach, stiff and still. Nijimura placed his palm on then and curled his fingers into the boy’s palm. It felt familiar but cold. Too cold.

Despite the crowd, Akashi let him hold his hand.

—

_Their skin was touching and Akashi’s hands were cupped around his face. Their lips were an inch apart and with each gasp, he could feel the other’s warm breath. Akashi went for another kiss, breathing fire into Nijimura’s lungs._

—

A week had passed since the accident. It was February now. Snow was still falling and Nijimura still hated how the grey winter skies made him want to go back to bed upon drawing the bedroom curtains. He did once.

That day he had forgotten he had scheduled lunch with a friend who wanted to catch up. He had chosen to go back under the blankets, still warm from body heat, and to snuggle against Akashi, still sleeping soundly. That time, he had thought that the other looked really small, like a young adolescent seeking protecting under his impenetrable blanket cloak. He chuckled. Akashi would have pushed him off the bed if he could read his mind (which he probably could, but luckily not in his slumber).

Nijimura tidied the bed. He places the four pillows – they both liked to sleep on two; Akashi claimed the slight elevation was beneficial for their spine – on each side of the bed. He swept the bedding in the air to straighten the folds and places it back down. The bed was wide and the morning quiet.

_—_

_It was 8 in the evening and barely anyone was at school anymore, save for the volleyball club who was practicing for a tournament, and the two of them. The basketball club was not training that day but they had an captain/vice-captain meeting. They were finishing off planning for the next session. With the arrival of June, summer had waltzed in and the sky was painted orange and teal. Nijimura yawned._

_"It’s getting late. Want me to walk you home?"_  
_"I’ll be fine. But thank you for the suggestion."_  
_"Won’t your dad freak out if he saw you coming home alone at this hour? It’d be a problem if something happened to Akashi-sama in the dark. I mean, you’re like… thirteen", Nijimura grinned._  
_"Please do not underestimate me Nijimura-san. Rather, you should get home quickly. Your siblings might be waiting for you."_

_The older boy reflected. He’d never seen Akashi walk home with anyone. His house wasn’t the same way as Kise, Aomine, Kuroko or Murasakibara’s, and Midorima always had to fetch his little sister from daycare after school._

_"_ _Don’t you feel kind of lonely sometimes?" He scratched his chin nervously, realizing how sudden the question it must have sounded for the other. He could feel blood rising in his cheeks.  
"Huh? Not in particular. But if you do, I’ll walk with you." Nijimura wanted to disappear. _

_Their hands brushed away as they parted upon arriving at Nijimura’s house._

The young man scanned the convenience store’s drinks section before settling for a can of carbonated apple juice. He grabbed a few other things on the way.

He put away his purchases at the apartment and went for a jog. When he was back at the block, the neigbourhood’s roads had cleared and the sun had set.

He took a hot shower to relax. The steam engulfed the bathroom, his lungs and his mind.

—

Nijimura was lying in bed, eyes closed, waiting for sleep to take him for the night, but somehow it wouldn’t come. He shuffled onto his side, then onto his stomach, then onto his back, then back onto his stomach. It was no use. He thought that if he just closed his eyes and focused on breathing, he would eventually fall asleep.

His chest rose, his chest sank.

Next to him, he felt another rhythm in unison with his. It was slow, it was peaceful, it was familiar. Then, he felt a weight slung across his chest, like an arm slung across him. His eyes were still closed. He was still breathing. He felt something gentle and warm next to his right arm. He turned to lie on his side side towards it. His right cheek met the damp pillow.

His eyes were still closed. He was still breathing.

— 

"Hey Shuuzou are you free tonight?", it was Tooru, a close friend.  
"Uh hold on," he checked the blank planner on his phone,"yeah I think so.", he scratched his neck, "What’s up?"  
"We’re going to get a drink with the others. Wanna come? Masaya, Hiro and Shinichi are all coming. We heard you weren’t feeling well lately so we thought about doing something to get your mind off stuff."  
"Oh. I’m alright though," his voice was raspy. He coughed twice. "Still, I can’t turn down a nice drink I guess. When and where?"  
"Since we’re all kind of broke right now we’re just going for okonomiyaki. It’ll be that place next to the bike shop at 7."  
"Cool. I’ll be there."

Nijimura hung up the phone. He stood up and stretched his arms towards the sky. Doing so, he took a deep breath of the cold winter air. He heard his back crack and winced. He hadn’t seen the guys in a while. Tooru was probably going to whine about how he didn’t have a girlfriend yet despite his age, and Shinichi was probably going to order too much food, as usual.

It was 7:10 and Nijimura arrived at the okonomiyaki house. He was greeted by the waitress and greeted back, and then proceeded to look around the room for his friends. He found them all already seated around a table waiting for him. They had already ordered the alcohol.

"Sorry for being late. I forgot a thing at home and had to head back.", he took off his jacket and sat down at an empty seat beween Masaya and Hiro.

Tooru whined about how he didn’t have a girlfriend yet despite his age, and Shinichi ordered too much food.

_—_

_Dinners had become dull lately. Nijimura’s younger sister silently ate, and his younger brother was probably too young to understand. Children are smarter than we give them credit for though, he had realized. Shuuya was only 6 years old and still toyed with his food, but something gave away that he probably got it too. His mother still tried to make conversation. "_

_So how was school today, Shuuzou?"_  
_"It was alright. I talked to the coach."_  
_"Oh? About your next game? Tell me when it’ll be. I’ll go cheer for you. I think this is going to be the last tournament you’ll be leading?"_  
_"I resigned my captaincy to help you with dad’s condition. I’ll probably be sitting on the bench most of the time. But you can still come watch if you want. The young ones are great this year."_  
_"I’m done. Thank you for the meal." Nijimura’s sister gathered her bowls and ustensils and put them away in the sink._

_—_

_Nijimura was sitting at a desk and across from his, Akashi. The room was empty, save for them. He could vaguely make out vegetation around them. Some were blood red, some were pure white. Tears were rolling down Akashi’s cheeks, the salty drops dissolving at the corners of his mouth. He was smiling. A hand was on his shoulder, wearing a ring on its fourth finger. It looked like a woman’s hand. Akashi looked like a child._

_The young man got up from his seat and the hand slid off his shoulder._

_"It’s getting late you should head back."_

_Nijimura tried to speak but no sound came out._

It was 7 in the morning. Today, Nijimura got up early, and somehow, he felt energized. Waking up when the sun was still shining gold usually made him feel sluggish, like the rays nagged at him with their beamy excellence. He knew someone like that. That person was never actually awake that early though. It made them kind of grumpy. It was kind of cute.

Today, he’d pass by the flower shop. In March, hydrangeas grew and his mother was particularly fond of them. He’d grab some and drop them by the family house so that she can use them to decorate the living room table. Besides, he hadn’t visited in a while.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, thank you so much for reading this! I wanted to write something short about the different aspects of grievance following the loss of a loved one, and I thought that I could do so using this ship. I think that this kind of situation is a long process, that’s why there’s not really a plot with a beginning, middle and end. I really enjoyed writing it, and I hope that you enjoyed reading it too!


End file.
